With over 60,000 solar home systems sold in five African markets since launching in 2015, Senegalese-based solar energy startup, Oolu Solar, has raised $8.5m Series B for product development and expan…
Startups
In nearly a decade, hundreds of entrepreneurs have emerged with innovative startups across the African continent. We provide insights on their experiences and highlight the activities of investors who fund them.
21 out of the 51 West African startups that raised $1m+ in the past decade went through an accelerator
Of the 51 startups that raised $1m or more cumulatively in the past decade, 21 (41.2%) passed through an accelerator. We take a look at some of the reasons why founders choose them in the first place.…
Why SSE Angel Network might explore investing outside Nigeria’s South-South/East region
Since its formation in 2018, the South-South/East Angel Network (SSEAN) has made investments in six startups across Nigeria. However, three of them are based outside the SSE region, in Lagos. Here’s w…
How the Nigerian Stock Exchange plans to win over SMEs, startups
Startups typically access funding through various means like grants, venture capitalists, and angel investors. We take a glance at the new investment route introduced by Nigeria’s stock exchange.…
The need for a bachelor’s degree in tech entrepreneurship in Africa: Myth or fact?
Techpoint Africa’s West African Startup Decade Report reveals that startups that raised over $1m in the last ten years have at least a co-founder with a bachelor’s degree. What does this mean going fo…
Nigerian fintech startup, CredPal raises $1.5m for credit cards launch and expansion
With the aim to become American Express for Africa, Nigerian YC-backed consumer fintech, CredPal, has raised $1.5m to expand outside the country. GreenHouse Capital and Y Combinator participated in t…
How Francophone Africa tech players are breaking down barriers in search of recognition
Although there’s a consensus that Francophone Africa’s tech ecosystem is significantly lagging behind their Anglophone counterparts, several tech players in the region are pushing to bridge the wide g…
Inside the agritech conglomerate Farmcrowdy is building
In 2016, Farmcrowdy launched as an agro crowdfunding platform. Four years later, it’s making a full pivot to a digital agriculture platform serving six businesses to different stakeholders in the agri…
Do more founders in a startup mean more investments?
In the past decade, Millionaire West African Startups with at least two founders raised more money than those with solo founders. We highlight what investors think of this, and if the number of founde…
What makes Nigeria the dominant country in West Africa’s startup space
Techpoint Africa’s West African Startup Decade Report showed a high number of Nigerian startups account for most funding deals up to $1 million. We examine factors that may have caused this whopping 8…
Why foreign investments will keep dominating Nigeria’s startup space
Over the years, Nigerian startups have thrived off the back of foreign funding, the likes of Interswitch and Paystack are now majority-owned by foreign companies. Here’s why this trend will continue f…
Ivorian startup, Afrikrea, is building the online infrastructure for African culture commerce
Kadry Diallo, Luc B. Perussault Diallo, and Moulaye Taboure founded fashion eCommerce startup, Afrikrea, in 2016. With over 7,000 sellers and active commerce in 150 countries, here’s what you ne…
Kenyan bus booking platform, QuickBus raises six-figure round, plans launch in Nigeria and Ghana
QuickBus, a Kenyan bus booking startup, has raised an undisclosed round led by UAE-based Shorooq Partners. It will use the investment for marketing purposes and launch in new African markets.…
Edtech startup, M-Lugha wants to help every Kenyan child learn in their native language
This Kenyan telecoms engineer and information technologist is building interactive digital apps to help rural children learn in over 20 local languages asides Swahili, Kenyan’s official and dominant i…
How Nigerian startup, Blueloop, wants to ease cross-border payments for merchants and gig workers
Backed with $77,000 in pre-seed funding from Hustle Fund, Pioneer, and Mozilla, Nigerian startup Blueloop, wants to ease cross-border payments by combining the best of decentralised finance and regula…
Backed by Ribbit Capital and Bezos Expeditions, Chipper Cash raises $30m Series B funding
Having raised $13.8m in June 2020 and $6m in December 2019, African focused P2P payments startup, Chipper Cash has raised a third round in 12 months. This means the startup has raised $52.2m since lau…
4 months post-launch, Autochek raises $3.4m pre-seed to disrupt Africa’s automotive industry
Founded in August by Etop Ikpe, Autochek Africa has secured $3.4m in a pre-seed round. Led by TLCom and 4DX Ventures, the startup wants to disrupt Africa’s automotive industry with its technolog…
Startup Funding: A beautiful game that must be played with caution
‘Startup Funding: A beautiful game that must be played with caution’ by Tope Adebayo LLP (Techpoint Africa Publishing Partner)…
Why Safeboda is leaving Kenya to focus on Uganda and Nigeria
After a 5-year run in the East-African market, Ugandan-founded bike-hailing startup, Safeboda has announced its exit from Kenya. This may have resulted from the effect of COVID-19 among other unconfir…
Wallets Africa partners with VISA to help businesses issue cards to employees and customers
Nigerian fintech startup, Wallets Africa, has joined forces with Visa to launch physical debit cards for its customers. This comes after participating in the global payments giant’s Fintech Fast…